Dear Families,

It's with a bit of disbelief that I write my final message for the newsletter for 2024!

This year has been full of so many events and changes around Albanvale Primary School.

Around our grounds we had new basketball and volleyball courts installed, and a food technology kitchen newly renovated ready for some exciting new classes next year. Our new artboard has also been installed to unleash the critical and creative thinking of students during their break times. Besides the amazing facilities our students use daily, we also had important infrastructure works ensuring the school is safe and operating to its fullest potential.

In the classroom learning remained the priority with great success, starting with our NAPLAN results yet again achieving above-state, similar and network schools in all areas. Our own assessment data collected over the year echo this success with 1in 4 students across the school experiencing 'high growth' in either reading, writing or numeracy. A fantastic achievement!

This year we also had our our inaugural Albanvale PS Athletics Day (which has been booked again for May next year), 5/6 Camp Lyrebird Park, our amazing LITFEST, as well as all the incredible excursions and experiences our students enjoy throughout the year. Despite there being less than a week left of school for the year we still have a few more adventures to come with our SWPBS Whole School Reward to the Movies and our Grade 6's are celebrating the end of their Albanvale journey in style at their BIG DAY OUT and of course our Grade 6 Graduation Ceremony.

So what does 2025 have to bring?

We have 15 classes next year, and are looking forward to welcoming 60 new prep students to our school. Term 1 will see our Grade 6s heading to the Outdoor Education School at 15 Mile Creek for their Leadership Camp while our Grade 3 and 5 students undertake NAPLAN from the 12th of March. School Photos are booked in for the 19th of March and we will, of course, be gearing up for the 2nd Annual Albanvale Athletics Day in Term 2 which will be followed by our STEM Week celebration. LITFEST 25 is scheduled for Term 3 and promises to be bigger and better than ever. In Term 4 our Grade 4 and 5's will be joining forces to attend school camp and the whole school will be participating in our swimming program. All of this and so much more!

2025 Staffing Update

Amongst all our planning for 2025, our students got their first taste of it all at our Step Up morning on Tuesday. Students and staff were thrilled to find out who they will be collaborating with next year. Sadly, this is also the time to say goodbye to some of our current staff including Julie Risteski who will be joining Davis Creek PS; Sarah Wickens who moves to Westmeadows PS, and Jacqueline Lay, who will be starting her career in childcare. We are thankful for the contributions they have made to our community at Albanvale and wish them all the best for 2025 and beyond.

With our student numbers continuing to climb we have some teachers taking on new roles within the school as well as some new faces joining (and returning). I'd like to officially welcome:

Alyssa Scotto (1/2D)
Alessia Valerio (3/4D)
Melanie Ong (5/6D)
Tristen Tabe (5/6C)

We're also welcoming back Kristy Froggatt from Maternity Leave. We will be continuing to offer an amazing enrichment program of PE (Lauren Fisher), Visual Art (Andrea Kwong), Italian (Anna Ricci) and Performing Arts (John Haythornthwaite).

End of year Christmas Carols & Kids Entrepreneurs Market

Our end-of-year Christmas Concert and Kidpreneurs Market will be held on Friday the 13th of December at 1:30 pm; we hope that all families can join us as we celebrate all our achievements in 2024. The event will begin with the gates opening at 1:20 pm and giving parents time to purchase from the Kidpreneaur Market. After a successful day at the Altona Beach Market, stock is limited so get in quick. Families are asked to bring a picnic rug to sit on and wear a hat during the Christmas Concert. All families are asked to sit behind students in the viewing area to keep the walkways to the side safe for transitions. You are more than welcome to bring an outdoor chair or picnic rug.

Each class will perform their Christmas song which we hope everyone will sing along to. Songbooks are provided when you enter through the gate so please do your best to sing along.

This is also the day we will announce our 2024 student leaders and draw the winners of our Major School Fundraiser! There is still time to purchase more tickets. Tickets can be collected from the office or your classroom teacher. Tickets are $2 each or 5 for $10.

All proceeds collected on the day will go toward the purchase of new Take Home Reading Books for Student Libraries in 2024

Grade 6 Big Day Out

To celebrate the successful completion of primary school, our grade 6’s will be attending a Graduation Big Day Out at Adventure Park Geelong on Wednesday 18th December. Students will spend an action-packed day at the water park. In addition, they will enjoy a BBQ lunch, followed by dinner at a restaurant. They will also take a stroll to the Geelong waterfront where they will have an opportunity to take some memorable photos of their primary school friends.

Grade 6 Graduation Ceremony

On behalf of students and staff, I would like to extend an invitation to all families to our end-of-year Graduation Ceremony on Thursday the 19th of December at 12:45 pm; we hope that all families can join us as we celebrate all our achievements of 2024. We will of course continue the Albavale PS tradition of creating a guard of honour for our graduating students as a symbol of their journey to the next stage of their education.

It has truly been an honour serving our community in 2025. I'd like to extend my gratitude to the staff, students and families for their unwavering support throughout the year. Next year, I have been appointed as the Chair of the Deer Park/Sunshine Principal Network. This is role in addition to my current responsibilities as our school's Principal and gives me the chance to support all students in our area to enjoy the same high quality learning we have come to expect here at APS. I am only able to take on this system leadership position because of the amazing team here at Albanavle who will ensure our work together continues as per normal. Importantly I'd like to highlight the work of Mrs Liong, Mr Taylor, Mr Ibrahim and Ms Atansovski (School Improvement Team) for their exceptional dedication to equity and excellence for every student, every day. Their impact on our school can been seen every day and I know they will continue with this into next year.

Enjoy a safe summer break and thank you for supporting us to

Achieve Excellence, Together.

Michael Uzunovski

Principal